Looking at a Roberto Luongo trade, the advantages for an NHL team that operates it's own junior club, the craziness that awaits any NHL'er heading to Sweden for the lockout, Dan Cloutier's return to the NHL, and more after the jump.

Hypothetically, if Roberto Luongo were to be traded… Weird fact – apparently Roberto Luongo grew up a big fan of Grant Fuhr. CanucksArmy speculates on four possible destinations for the goaltender – including Edmonton. All I’ll say is that the Jeff Petry thing ain’t happening. [Canucks Army]

Is running a junior team something every NHL owner should do? The Edmonton Oilers have a unique and cozy relationship with the Edmonton Oil Kings, with a significant degree of communication between organizations and a number of Oilers prospects on the team. Has it paid off, and is it something other NHL teams have done or should think about doing? [Oilers Nation]

The hornet’s nest that awaits locked out NHL’ers in Sweden. In some leagues, locked out NHL’ers are welcomed as they bring extra attention and skill to the game. In Sweden, something as simple as signing Alex Steen has turned into a major mess, featuring lawsuits, media scrutiny and bad blood. [Canucks Army]

Nazem Kadri’s got this. The hearts of Leafs Nation are a-flutter with the news that Nazem Kadri showed up to AHL training camp in, uh, less than optimum shape. One fan made a point of taking Kadri to task, only to meet with a reply of “settle down little girl I got this” from the unperturbed player. [Leafs Nation]

The Canucks have brought Dan Cloutier in to work with their goalies. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until someone photo-shops a beachball into a picture of Cloutier pointing out something to Cory Schneider. “See, this is how you do it!” Jokes aside, was it a good hire? [Canucks Army]

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ pitch to Brad Richards. The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t land Brad Richards in 2011 – that honour instead went to the New York Rangers, a club that paid through the nose for the privilege – but that’s not to say they didn’t try. Bonus feature: iPad version of Brian Burke, since actual Brian Burke was visiting the troops in Afghanistan on July 1 that year. [Leafs Nation]

Jason Garrison’s rise from obscurity. It may be a Canucks-specific article, as the team signed the free agent defenceman this summer, but Garrison’s odd career path and late-blooming tendencies are still quite interesting, even for those disinterested in the team. [Canucks Army]

Yakupov: “Just give a guy a chance to play and enjoy hockey. Pleeeease.” Nail Yakupov’s transfer situation is bizarre, and Andrey Osadchenko gives us the Russian perspective. [Oilers Nation]

Matt Stajan’s (fictional) trip to Kathmandu. Like the rest of us, Matt Stajan was wondering what to do with his time given the NHL lockout. Unlike the rest of us, he took a trip to Nepal. [Flames Nation]

Paul Ranger returns with a bang. Not long ago, Paul Ranger was one of the NHL’s up-and-coming young defenders before he rather mysteriously left the game (backstory here). Now, he’s attempting a comeback with the Leafs – and he’s started off by ranking first overall among Toronto Marlies players on their season-opening fitness tests. [Leafs Nation]

Jonathan Willis is a freelance writer.
He currently works for Oilers Nation, Sportsnet, the Edmonton Journal and Bleacher Report.
He's co-written three books and worked for myriad websites, including Grantland, ESPN, The Score, and Hockey Prospectus. He was previously the founder and managing editor of Copper & Blue.

I've noticed that USA sports are better than EU but cdn are better than American, rules-wise. I think this is because USA sports are optimized to be dummer to watch. Hockey is multi-faceted. It isn't clear to a newcomer why Bochenski 2010 Game 7 OT giveaway was bad. For starters he had the Gravity of his teammates up at the point. Maybe his best move was a Lindros sky-flip up the ice or a hard snapshot to his teammates. I'm happy athletes are accessible for autographs and stuff.

(2011)...if you are broke you can sacrifice time for money getting an autograph. When I played MLB 2005 for Game Cube, no rocket pitchers....but also I stacked my minior teams and it didn't hurt. The nice thing about Jr is you can make your players winners. Especially for goalies I don't think it helps to be shelled. You don't want to build stamina, you want to be able to deflect the puck to where your D are. I guess International Tourneys are all about injuries and picking the present best players...this is tricky as you are thinking about not pissing off players...

It doesn't help for tickets but ideally, if you have your venues and bulk of your ticket price maxed (keep a bum and Chocolate Factory boy zone), you want to reconfigure your season as you go, matching strength on strength. Giving more pts or weighting for the later Champion's wins. NO and SD suck but where is the Atl Houston matchup?? They are healthy now...Never got more 2010-11 Det Vancouver...Det even without Datsyuk had good set pieces on Vancouver's fortress. Det should've traded with the leafs.